Once again, we’ve survived another Black Friday. From the crowds to discounts on anything and everything, Black Friday came and went without a hitch. Surprisingly enough, there were only a few scuffles throughout the stores as crazed consumers grappled over TVs, toys, and everything else, braving the long register lines for these heavily discounted items. Consumers, however, spent less during Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend than last year.
Mashable notes that sales in retail stores this past weekend dropped 5.2% from last year. Online sales, on the flip side, increased by 14.3% from last year. To boot, smartphone and tablet traffic outweighed personal computer traffic, according to Lucinda Duncalfe, CEO of digital marketing and commerce company Monetate. Seems like more shoppers are seeking out online deals instead of braving the masses at retail stores.
But overall, spending over the weekend dropped to $50.9 billion from last year’s $57.4 billion, an 11% decrease from last year. And there could be any number of reasons for this. For one, Black Friday might be losing its appeal for consumers, considering that many retail and online stores offer deep discount days leading up to the year-end. The drop in sales might also show that the recession is still a real problem for some Americans.
However you look at it, Black Friday is starting to fade away amid the other holiday specials and deals. “The Black Friday hype has come and mostly gone,” said Ken Perkins, the founder of Retail Metrics, to the New York Times, thanks to “significant changes to the way consumers shopped, retailers promoted and the general importance of the day itself.”
